It has been confirmed that thousands more NHS cancer patients are set to be offered treatment from the comfort of their own home.
This announcement comes following a successful scheme in Manchester.
A specialist team at the renowned cancer centre, The Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Withington, is currently already delivering lifesaving chemotherapy and immunotherapy at home for around 130 patients per week, after beginning to offer the option for breast cancer patients back in 2016 – but now, there are plans to roll it out more widely.
It’s hoped that up to 10,000 patients with breast, bowel, kidney, lung, prostate or melanoma skin cancer will be treated per year.
The ‘Christie at Home’ service currently consists 12 fully-qualified chemotherapy and immunotherapy nurses from the hospital, and it additionally offers more than 25,000 of treatments each year from a mobile unit and regional clinics.
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But how does it work?
Well, patients are given their first two treatments in a clinic – to allow doctors to assess them and monitor for any potential complications – and if they’re given the all-clear, they can then opt to have the rest of their treatments at home.
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The drugs are delivered by a pharmacist and specialist nurses visit to administer them.
Stephanie Hechter – Outreach Service Manager at The Christie – told the Daily Mail that the service has been proving popular and effective throughout the trial period, and particularly during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, as “patients don’t have to spend time travelling to and from hospital appointments, and they don’t need to worry about parking or sitting around in waiting rooms”.
She continued: The benefits of at-home treatment were even greater last year, when many patients were worried about coming to hospital.
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“Our way, they get a time slot and one-on-one nursing care.
“It meant that no one missed appointments [and] we were able to keep providing treatment as usual.”
It’s also been confirmed that The Christie is working with and could act as a blueprint for another leading cancer centre, The Royal Marsden Hospital in London, as with figures suggesting there are 4.5 million patients waiting for hospital treatment, experts are saying the service could be a way for other hospitals to help ease pressure caused by a backlog of patients who have seen procedures or treatments delayed during the pandemic.
It could also prevent patients from having to come into hospitals where strict hygiene control and social distancing measures are still place.
An unexplained pain that lasts three weeks or more could be a sign of cancer. It’s probably nothing serious, but finding cancer early makes it more treatable.
One patient to have benefited from the ‘Christie at Home’ service is Bob Huntbach – a 72-year-old retired Detective Superintendent from Urmston, who is a father-of-two, grandfather to five, great grandfather to two, and was diagnosed with melanoma skin cancer four years ago – who has been receiving immunotherapy treatment every six weeks and says he sat in his conservatory while the nurses carried out the treatment.
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Bob added: “When I was going to hospital for the treatment, I had to write off a whole day and it’s very tiring [but] now, I have the treatment at home and it makes a huge difference.
“You also get a one-to-one service with the nurse, who can answer all your questions”.
Unfortunately in recent months, the cancer has spread to Bob’s lungs and he will now need to go onto a new drug to continue his fight against the disease, but he says that the time he saved travelling has made all the difference to keeping up a somewhat normal lifestyle.
“Once the nurses have gone, I can spend time in my workshop,” he says.
“At my age, every day counts”.
Featured Image – The Christie NHS Foundation Trust
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Body of woman found in River Mersey last year finally identified after ‘extensive’ investigation
Emily Sergeant
The body of woman who was found in the River Mersey last year has finally been identified.
Following what has been described as an ‘extensive investigation’ by Greater Manchester Police‘s (GMP) Major Incident Team to determine the identity of the body, which was sadly discovered in the river adjacent to Chorlton Water Park on 21 March 2024, the family of the victim has now been informed and supported by specialist officers.
The victim has been formally named as 38-year-old Laura Stanley, who was originally from Derbyshire but was living in Stockport.
After the body was discovered, and ‘exhaustive and determined’ investigation by GMP officers began to identify here, including detailed checks of both national and international databases.
The Major Incident Team (MIT) also closely worked in collaboration with specialist forensic service providers to create an anthropological profile, which eventually culminated in the creation of a facial reconstruction image.
Following several media appeals, a relative of Laura contacted officers and then a DNA match was confirmed through a familial link.
“Laura was a kind and gentle person with a great sense of fun and adventure,” Laura’s family said in a heartbreaking tribute to her.
“She was generous, thoughtful, caring and always keen to volunteer within the community. Laura was a proud and loving mum and she will be greatly missed by her girls and all of her friends and family who loved her dearly.”
The River Mersey, across from Chorlton Water Park, where Laura’s body was discovered / Credit: Wikimedia Commons
While Laura has now been identified, police say further investigations will take place to understand her last movements, the events that led to her death, and her discovery in the river.
Additionally, as is standard practice, GMP’s Professional Standards Directorate is also reviewing a previous missing report relating to Laura in the time before the discovery of her body, which will determine prior contact relating to Laura, and whether the appropriate measures were enacted.
#UPDATE | A woman who was discovered in the River Mersey last year has been identified following an extensive investigation by officers in GMP’s Major Incident Team.
Thank you to those of you who have shared our appeals over the last year.
Anyone who knew Laura and thinks they may be able to assist with the investigation is asked to contact police by calling 101, or by using the Live Chat Service at gmp.police.uk, quoting log number 1191 of 21 March 2024.
Alternatively, you can contact the Major Incident Team Syndicate 3 directly on 0161 856 9479, or the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
It is currently believed that Laura was last seen around January 2024.
Featured Image – GMP
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More than 70,000 home buyers set to pay thousands after missing stamp duty relief deadline
Emily Sergeant
More than 70,000 home buyers across England are estimated to have missed the stamp duty relief deadline.
This sadly means they’ll be required to fork out thousands of pounds extra.
In case you hadn’t heard, up until yesterday (31 March 2025), anyone who was moving and had bought a home in the past was not required to pay Stamp Duty Land Tax, better-known as just stamp duty, on the portion of the property price up to £250,000.
But from today (1 April), this threshold has now fallen back to £125,000, which unfortunately means that property purchasers are facing an extra £2,500 in moving costs, on average.
While the end of the stamp duty relief will mostly affect those Greater Manchester buyers who had already previously purchased properties, first time buyers are sadly not exempt from the deadline changes too, as their current stamp duty threshold of £425,000 has now fallen back to £300,000 as of today.
Person holding the keys to a new house in their hand / Credit: Maria Ziegler (via Unsplash)
Given that the average property price for a first time buyer-type home is currently around £227,965, according to Rightmove, the new £300,000 threshold may hit those purchasing properties in more expensive areas – particularly the South East.
A third of those estimated 70,000 home buyers who have missed the deadline are thought to be first time buyers.
Leading property platform Rightmove published an analysis in February into just how much of an impact the end of the stamp duty relief would have on home buyers, all while calling on the UK Government to announce a short extension to the deadline to help people in the middle of the property purchasing process avoid potentially thousands of pounds in extra moving costs.
But despite these calls from industry leaders, there was no extension to the deadline announced in the last week’s latest Spring Statement.
“It’s extremely disappointing that the Government has not used the Spring Statement as an opportunity to extend the impending stamp duty deadline for those currently going through the home-moving process,” commented Rightmove’s property expert Colleen Babcock.
“We estimate over 70,000 people are going to miss the deadline and complete in April instead, and a third of those are first time buyers.”
The Manc -
6th April 2021 
